The Ghost Town Monster
by Jululx
Summary: The abandoned district of Z-City. A place feared by both humans and monsters. Nobody knows for sure what is causing all the monsters who enter the area to disappear, but many monsters feel like they are up to the challenge of finding out themselves.
1. Chapter 1

The abandoned district of Z-City. A ghost town that humans and monsters both feared going to. The humans generally agreed that there was something wrong with the place, something that seemed to attract monsters from all around to argue and take territory. The damage done to this part of the city caused it to be a place too dangerous for many to walk in, even. It was as though a war was constantly being waged there, as though monsters of incredible power fought for dominance in the heart of the least-populated area on the map.

The monsters came there looking to find out more about what was going on there themselves. Many powerful being came to try and assert dominance themselves, hoping to find what was causing such chaos and why so many other monsters came here. Which is why, when they get to the city, they are confused as to where anyone and anything is.

All mysterious beings reported to be seen going into the city, such as Mosquito Girl, Konbu Infinity, and Freeze-Dried Fish, are never seen coming back out. All highly dangerous beings, all never to be seen again.

"...Which means that, no matter what, we have to be wary going here. We could be dead the moment we cross the gate," finished the mysterious being Venus mantrap. "There is something not right about this place. What force could bring so much evil to one place, and what force could then prevent it from leaving?"

"Maybe we'll even find some humans in here," Face Ripper stated. "My blades have been waiting to find something to sharpen their edge on for a while now. I'll rip and tear anything I can find in there. This force will be powerless against my blades!"

Phoenix Man responded. "That isn't going to do you any good. Being more powerful than us have gotten destroyed here. Your arrogance will be what gets you killed here. Calm yourself down, we'll fight only if we have to. For now, let's investigate and see if we can figure things out first. Perhaps there really is a breeding ground of monsters here. What use is getting worked up going to do for you? You can't win against this kind of power using your brute strength."

Face Ripper only scoffed at him. "If you don't believe you're up for the task, you can back out now. I'll handle this on my own, and my blades will get their share of blood. If you feel that you want to become a burden to us, that blood could be yours."

"This argument isn't going to get us anywhere," declared Mantrap. "Let's get moving here, whatever is there is there, and we'll deal with the situation as it comes."

The trio quieted down for a short while after that. They knew nothing about what they would face when they got there. There were many theories, of course, but they couldn't know which one was correct. A breeding ground was surely a possibility. Mysterious beings that killed whatever came in their path, be in man or monster, was surely another possibility. Mosquito Girl was no push-over with her swarm of minions following her every command. Konbu Infinity had powerful tentacles, with enough power behind them to crack bones, but flowing smoothly enough to maneuver through tight spots and allow Konbu near-infinite angles of attack. And Freeze-Dried Fish...

Some force powerful enough to take down all three of them had seemingly no combative weakness. They could take down armies of flying enemies, handle a wall of steel konbu, and break through the power of Freeze-Dried's Frostbite attack. This had to be the work of some force of nature, it seemed. But no, even the force of nature Vaccine Man fell here. Phoenix Man was trying to come up with some plan to handle such a powerful threat. It was undetectable, had no assigned loyalties between humans or monsters, and could leave such marks of power in its collective wake.

Phoenix Man believed that even between the beings they would meet there, there had to be some disputing going on. From what view they could get of the district, abandoned buildings were fallen, that which was previously a 15-story apartment had a hole the size of a giant broken through it, and the lamp posts were slightly bent. Perhaps they could use the disputes between the beings there to get the upper hand. If their enemy couldn't even coordinate themselves together properly, perhaps that could lead to an opening for an outsider to trump them...

"No turning back now, I suppose," said Venus Mantrap. They were inside the abandoned city. The fear that they felt slid onto even Face Ripper, if only by a small amount. They were here.

"I'll scout the land from above," stated Phoenix Man. "Venus Mantrap, Face Ripper, stay alert. Don't start fights you don't have to. I'll come tell you as soon as I find a place of interest."

Face Ripper still mocked him. "If you're too scared to stay on the ground, fine by me. That just means I'll get the first kill on these beasts. You do what you want to do, I'm going to find some fresh faces for my blade to meet." After speaking, Face Ripper started running off to find whatever beings lived here.

"Stop, Face Ripper! We can't go separate ways, we..." started Venus Mantrap, but he was already gone.

"Alright then, I suppose I'll follow the plan then. Go find the location, I'll look closer to the ground," Venus Mantrap told Phoenix Man. Then, they were all seperate, looking for what there was to find.

It had been half an hour, and none of the three could find signs of life. They eventually met back up at the request of Phoenix Man to discuss what they would do next.

"Man, this sucks, I haven't found a single being around here. Where could they be hiding in this city? I want to get my blade at them for making me waste so much time!" Face Ripper was getting annoyed. "I say we start making a ruckus, maybe they'll come out of hiding if we can get them to come see what is going on."

"Maybe our best course of action is to recruit some monsters that can dig and come back," suggested Venus Mantrap. "Maybe they're hiding underneath the ground."

Phoenix Man was ready to agree with Mantrap on this. Maybe the air wasn't the only place good for finding hidden places where things could be hiding. Maybe some mole monsters could be of used to them. However, his thought was interrupted by Face Ripper.

"Hey, looks like some idiot got lost. Someone's wandered their way into this dangerous city."

Venus Mantrap and Phoenix Man both turned to look where Face Ripper was looking. Indeed, a ways away there was a human walking down the street. He wasn't particularly memorable, although Phoenix Man was pretty sure humans normally had hair on their heads. He was walking in the same direction as them, but at his own pace, not seeming to have noticed the trio of monsters yet in his path.

"Finally, a fresh face for me!" declared Face Ripper. "I don't care if this is worthless blood, I need to let out this frustration, and this human is right up to be a volunteer, it seems!"

As Face Ripper rushed to intercept the human for a petty kill, Phoenix Man and Venus Mantrap both decided to let him go. It was true that he had been frustrated during their time here, and they hoped that maybe letting out some of his frustration here would make him more tolerable on the walk back.

They saw his blades come down for the head of the human, and saw the buildings themselves shake from the power of his slice. The dust created by this blow started to cloud up the monster and human, and Phoenix Man just started turn around, ready to accompany Face Ripper and Venus Mantrap back just as soon as Face Ripper would step back to them.

Phoenix Man watched the dust settle with a sideways glance, hoping that he could convey the message to Face Ripper with his glance that it was time to go just as soon as he could make eye contact.

Except...

The dust was settling, and there were no longer eyes to make contact with for Face Ripper. Or much else.


	2. Chapter 2

All that stood in front of them was a bald, young adult. What remained of Face Ripper was splattered on the side of a nearby building and the street he had been standing on. A few yards away, and yet way too close, stood Phoenix Man and Venus Mantrap, staring in awe and fear at the sight before them. The demon-level threat was dead without so much as a struggle. Never before had the two surviving monsters met something that could utterly eliminate a high-powered monster like that with no effort and no time.

One of their stronger allies, dead so easily. It seemed like they had met a monster in human's skin. Whatever power they were facing down, they were not prepared to meet head-on.

"Come on, let's get moving!" yelled Mantrap. As though Phoenix Man felt any differently. And so they turned around and fled.

Venus Mantrap wasn't particularly fast, but it wasn't going to slow down any less for it. It knew that if this being wanted to, it could almost certainly catch up to it and kill it. It knew it wasn't going to take an attack any better than Face Ripper was, and so knew that if it was caught, that was its end. Phoenix Man had the advantage of flight and moderately higher speed, so Venus Mantrap knew that if anyone was going to die first, it would be itself.

Which is why it was surprised when nothing caught up to them. They stopped together a block past the gate of the ghost town to discuss what they had found.

"Why didn't it pursue us?" Questioned Venus Mantrap. "What is that thing, why didn't it chase us, how was it powerful enough to destroy Face Ripper, how did it destroy Face Ripper, what should…"

"Quiet." Stated Phoenix Man. "This is clearly a force we are not prepared to have all the answers to yet. We have to gather together what information we learned before we can discuss what that information means. First, we learned that in the ghost town, there exists at least one being powerful enough to destroy a demon-level threat with no real battle. Secondly, this being chose not to chase after us. This means that either the being had no desire to chase us, or couldn't, which could mean a few things we can use."

"What kind of monster was that?" Questioned Venus Mantrap. "Did it believe that shape-shifting into that form would allow it to go unnoticed? Was it that sadistic that it would use such a form to bait monsters into attacking it? If it really is that sadistic, why didn't it attack us?"

Phoenix Man sighed. "We still don't know what kind of monster it is. Perhaps it was just being territorial, and backed off of attacking us because we didn't approach it. Perhaps it was simply too slow to chase us, considering we found it walking towards us when we met it rather than running. Perhaps it is some high-level pawn of the Heroes Association sent here to watch over it, to find the source of the power just as we are. Perhaps we should meet up with Maiko Plasma and see if she can check the Heroes' Association's website for if that thing is one of their heroes. Anyways, whatever it is, we are going to need to get some assistance from other mysterious beings in order to find out more. "

* * *

"Do all dudes with swords need to come swinging in all the time to try and make a point or something?" Saitama wondered, while watching the two monsters flee. "Maybe they should just relax. They need to pick up some hobby other than sword swinging. That ninja guy seemed to have a lot of stress he needs to release, too. I wonder what they are all so worried over."

* * *

"So you're saying there is one confirmed powerful being in the ghost town?" Maiko Plasma asked.

"Yes. Why we were allowed to survive the encounter is still a mystery to me, but I'm glad to be out of there." Venus Mantrap stated.

Phoenix Man and Venus Mantrap had met Maiko Plasma at a secret part of T-City to discuss plans of action regarding the newly-confirmed power in Z-City's ghost town. They decided to come to Maiko Plasma due to her ability to send and receive information from anywhere using her power over computers. She had become an unofficial information relay among some monsters who were willing to work together. Their collective goal at the moment was to discover what force was causing monsters to convene and, subsequently, die in Z-City.

"This is the first major lead we've gotten on what we're up against!" Maiko Plasma exclaimed. "It's not very encouraging to hear that this is a being who will attack even monsters that come to it, but know we have some clue as to what we are up against."

"Perhaps we should get in contact with some of those with relations to being s that have died there," suggested Phoenix Man. "We know the history of a few beings that have met their end there. For example, the being named Mosquito Girl, we noted that she was related to an organization named the House of Evolution. Perhaps if we traced that line of thought back, we could find someone who might know something about how she died. They must have done their own investigation into the death of one of their beings, shouldn't they have? Maybe they'll have a bit more information regarding how the ghost town led to her death."

Maiko Plasma lit up at this. "Yes, in fact, I know how I can get some records of beings controlled by the House of Evolution stored that I can bring up and look over. Just give me a minute to find it." With that, Maiko Plasma left her spot with the other two, and went over to a computer that she had waiting nearby to call up information she needed. As she worked on the computer, Phoenix Man and Venus Mantrap could see some sparks of electricity transferring from her arm into the computer she was working with. Maiko Plasma was an electricity based monster, able to control it just as well as though electricity was a third arm for her; completely naturally. Within minutes, she had managed to dredge up information on the House of Evolution from the House's archived files.

"It appears that the information has been stopped updating for some time now," Maiko stated. "For some reason, the House of Evolution no longer updates the files they have archived online. This means that the information we find here could be off by a little amount of time. What they do have here, though, mentions information on Mosquito Girl and her cohorts as 'Experiments in Evolution'."

"What does it say about the mysterious beings other than Mosquito Girl?" inquired Phoenix Man. "Could we get an idea of where to find them, or what they might be doing now? We need to know where we might find some information regarding the ghost town's being."

"Sure can. Let me just look into one of the other files here. For example, if we take a look at one of them, let's say the being named Beast King…" but then Maiko Plasma stopped. In the file for Beast King, she found a status report. "Status: Deceased. Eliminated by the mission target in Z-City."

"The mission target?" questioned Phoenix Man. "In Z-City? Could they mean that other members of the House of Evolution went into the ghost town and were killed as well?"

"It could be that they went after the killer of Mosquito Girl like we had assumed they might." stated Maiko Plasma. "Perhaps they sent some stronger monsters into the abandoned city to avenge Mosquito Girl, and lost the life of this one in the process?"

"Maybe see if you can find any reports in the archives about the mission Beast King was part of." Suggested Mantrap. "If we can find out what they know about this 'mission target', maybe we can learn more about the abandoned city."

Maiko was already on the job. She quickly found their last mission reports that were archived. She looked over them quickly, and soon found an image near the bottom, under the final line, "Prepare for the release of Carnage Kabuto." The image didn't seem anything special to Maiko Plasma, it depicted a bald man picking his nose next to an angry man appearing to be a robot or cyborg. But this image caused Phoenix Man and Venus Mantrap to start freaking out a bit.

"What's wrong?" Maiko Plasma asked. "What is wrong with this report?"

Phoenix Man calmed down enough to say, "The one on the left. That's the mysterious being we met inside the ghost town!"

"What? That bald dude?" Maiko retorted. "He doesn't look like he could kill much of anything."

"We witnessed it kill Face Ripper!" Mantrap shot back.

"Give us any information you can find on what survivors there might have been of the House of Evolution immediately." Phoenix Man said. "If the House of Evolution took on that thing, and we saw it kill Face Ripper after, that means that they lost. If you can find any reports on beings that might have escaped, please tell us. We need to track them down and get more information on its powers."

* * *

At a small Takoyaki shop, Dr. Genus and Armored Gorilla sit, watching the shop and waiting for more customers to come in. They weren't doing badly, not at all, it was just a slow day. Suddenly, they heard the door ring as some people came inside to the shop. Dr. Genus was getting ready to welcome them, until he noticed that they didn't appear to be human.

Phoenix Man decided he should be the one to speak first. "You appear to be Dr. Genus of the House of Evolution. We mean you no harm coming in here, we just want to ask you a few questions."


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh!" Maiko Plasma thought. "I've found a match. Looks like that thing is probably human after all."

After searching the internet for similar images to the one found in the House of Evolution's archives, Maiko Plasma had managed to find a few matches connected to the Hero Association about the identity of the mysterious being found in the ghost town.

"It says here that he is listed as a B-Class Hero, nicknamed 'Caped Baldy', real name 'Saitama'. Why would this nobody be able to take down so many powerful monsters?" questioned Maiko. "We need more evidence of this man's power. Perhaps he is using some trick to knock down these mysterious beings that we just need to investigate a little into in order to defeat him. Maybe this trick of his could even be learned by us to take down Heroes in the future?"

"Anyway, I suppose I should get in contact with some monsters who can get us evidence of this man's ability. Electric Catfish Man can probably get a recording of it and burrow away quickly. That means we need some monster we can use to bait this hero into attacking. Who could we get to do that, I wonder…"

"So he just let you two live?!" shouted Venus Mantrap.

"Yeah. He didn't seem interested in fighting me anymore, he just left to catch a bargain day sale." Stated Dr. Genus. "Armored Gorilla here survived after telling him and his follower our whereabouts. After seeing the power that the man had, I don't blame him for it."

"Thanks for that, Doctor." Armored Gorilla said.

"Anyway, you say he is a human who punched through your strongest creation and eliminated him in a single punch?" Phoenix Man asked skeptically. "Sounds like the punchline to a bad joke. He wasn't an artificial being or anything?"

"No, not at all," Dr. Genus said. "I analyzed the information I got from his fight with Mosquito Girl and Carnage Kabuto. He is a human who seems to have surpassed any limits that normally keep people together, and has managed to gain an immense amount of power. His fight with the House of Evolution has taught me that it is I who need to change, not to create…"

"No need for sappy stories." Cut off Venus Mantrap. "We get that he is unreasonably powerful for his appearance. What we need to know is if there is anything you might have learned about how he fights. What did he do to kill this Carnage Kabuto? Did he create a beam of energy from his hands? Did he use psychic powers to rip it apart? What method did this man use to destroy these monsters?"

"…he just punched them." Dr. Genus said, confused. "That's really the only form of attack I've seen him pull out on any of my creations. He punches them, and they are obliterated by the power of that punch. Even my strongest creation, Carnage Kabuto, couldn't live after a single punch by him. He didn't need to do anything else to finish off Mosquito Girl either."

"This is ridiculous." Phoenix Man stated. "Perhaps he was using psychic powers, but punched through your creations while ripping them apart with his mind? There is no way a simple punch, no matter how strong, should be able to take down something as powerful as the beings you've shown to have created."

"I'm sorry, but that really is all there is to tell you about that man," Dr. Genus sighed. "If he really was using any sort of psychic or artificial enhancement in his fights, it didn't appear that way. No noticeable psychic aura was about him, there were no visible mechanical limbs or devices, it was just a punch."

"So what are we after? Is there supposed to be some monster we're going to fight in the ghost town or something?" Senior Centipede asked.

"We should be careful not to engage in a battle with it, Maiko Plasma says," Electric Catfish Man replied. "This being is dangerous. It killed Face Ripper from the most recent investigation without a second thought. We just need to analyze it, get it to attack something, and record the hit."

Electric Catfish Man had an interesting camera rig attached to his head, in order to get a video of the mysterious being that they were after. This video they would take should provide valuable information to them about what kind of fighting style and power this being had. He knew he wasn't a very powerful fighter; he normally had to team up with Maiko Plasma herself to deal with certain threats that needed the attention of electricity-based fighters. The reason he and Senior Centipede were told to be on this team was because they could both burrow into the ground to escape from any potential conflict they might find on this mission.

"Eh? Maiko doubts my power as a demon-level monster?" Senior Centipede said. "What could we be facing that would get her to tell us to back down? Does she think I can't handle myself on a mission like this? If something fights me, I'm gonna fight back. Heck, if something doesn't fight me, I might fight it anyway, if I'm feeling like it. No mysterious being is gonna boss me around like this one is trying to."

"Remember, Senior," Catfish said. "There are monsters in this world stronger than us. Trying to handle everything with brute strength will not lead us anywhere. We need to gather this video to develop information about what we, as a group, can do to take down this threat if need be. Maybe we can even recruit it, and it wouldn't be easy to recruit something we made an enemy of."

"Yeah, yeah." Senior Centipede said. "We've been looking for a while anyway, and haven't seen much. Where is this supposed mysterious being?"

Looking around them, the abandoned district of Z-City certainly lived up to its name. Nothing but rubble and barely-standing apartments seemed to surround them. However, Catfish Man was starting to feel some electrical current nearby, as though a robot was nearby…

Wait, maybe that was the mysterious being!

"Hey Centipede, I sense something nearby!" Electric Catfish Man relayed as quietly but as excitedly as he could. "A few blocks down, there is something that might be an autonomous unit. It could be the mysterious being we heard about, we need to get closer."

"No problem!" Senior Centipede said, burrowing his way a bit too aggressively towards where Catfish Man indicated.

"Wait, you idiot! We need to…" but Centipede was already halfway there.

Popping out of the ground, Senior Centipede came close to the source of the power and startled the being. It appeared to be a robot, like Catfish Man had proposed. But the face and design seemed to lend itself to much more likely being a cyborg. Its face was almost human-like, and if the only thing you saw of it was that face, you might think it was human. Cyborgs seemed to tend towards keeping a human face more often than robots created a human-like face with robot features. But now Senior Centipede was getting off-track.

"Hello. You must be the one causing so much trouble in this place, aren't you, Mr. Cyborg?" Senior Centipede said.

"What business do you have here?" Genos stated. "State your purpose here, and be quick about it. I have places to be."

By now, Electric Catfish Man had caught up, and was recording the interaction. Perhaps this being could be reasoned with, perhaps they might find a weakness of it during the conversation. Either way, getting the recording done was the number one priority of their mission here, and keeping the video undamaged meant that Catfish stayed out of range of any potential conflict.

"I heard you might be pretty strong. I was wondering if you might try and prove your might against me, the Senior Centipede!"

Genos was already firing up his arms as Senior Centipede was finishing. "If you have some qualm with me or my master, forget it. I'll be forced to eliminate you if you are the one trying to start trouble here."

This confused Electric Catfish Man a little. What did the cyborg mean, his master? Was there some more powerful being that existed over this place, controlling robots like this one? Was this not the mysterious being that they had been told to investigate? Senior Centipede, however, was too busy preparing for a fight to think much of his opposition's speech.

"I'll make this city your grave, robot boy!" Senior Centipede declared. He charged at the cyborg, mouth open and ready to bite down on him. Genos jumped out of the way quickly and aimed it at his new target.

"Machine Gun Blows!" Genos attacked Senior Centipede from the side with a flurry of punches that knock the centipede off of its course a bit. Centipede gets up and, with a roar, starts to surround Genos with his long train of a body. It was his turn for a special attack of his own, to show this uppity cyborg who the stronger being was.

"Centipede Parade!" he shouts, encasing Genos in a whirlwind of claws and scales as he was unable to avoid the attack fully from Senior Centipede.

All the while, Electric Catfish Man was watching and recording the fight from where a relatively safe location. The fight seemed clearly in Senior Centipede's favor. Perhaps the power of the mysterious being that Face Ripper lost to was exaggerated. If this truly was the being they were after, video recordings of it would be fairly useless, considering it looked like he was about to die anyway…

"Hmm?" Electric Catfish Man saw someone coming out of a nearby street. He looked to be some bald guy carrying a grocery bag, as if nothing of consequence was happening. He was moving towards the fight between the cyborg and the centipede, looking to not have a care in the world.

And then, he seemed to disappear.

"Hahaha, Mr. Robot. None can survive the death march that is the Centipede Parade. Not even…" but Senior Centipede was suddenly cut off. Electric Catfish Man couldn't even see what happened, and then he noticed that Senior Centipede's head wasn't connected to its body anymore.

Off to the side of the monster, Electric Catfish Man noticed that the bald guy was standing next to where the cyborg was now laying down, damaged and beat up as it was.

Electric Catfish Man froze in fear. What happened? How did Senior Centipede die? What did the bald guy do? He needed to get back as quickly as possible. Senior Centipede, his demon-level backup, was gone. Just as though he were nothing. And Electric Catfish Man was afraid for his life.

He waited there, in his hiding spot, patiently. If he made a sound, he was worried that he would be noticed. He wasn't going to go out there and try and interact with this being. He couldn't risk the video recording getting destroyed, and so he waited as quietly and as fearfully as he could until the bald guy had carried the cyborg away. And then he blasted into the underground and dug back to base as quickly as he could manage.

 **Author's Note**

 **Sorry about the slower update. Not quite used to writing fights, and so tried to spend more time working on that section compared to the other parts.**


	4. Chapter 4

Maiko Plasma, Venus Mantrap, and Phoenix Man were discussing what they had learned from the House of Evolution. The three of them were still confused about some things, however.

"So we can confirm, this is just a human. Some nobody human named Caped Baldy by the Hero Association, strong enough to defeat the House of Evolution single-handedly, with the ability to strike down just about anything in one shot." Phoenix Man summarized. It seemed ridiculous, but all the information they had observed and taken note of, along with the description by the House of Evolution's leader, meant that this seemed as true as it could be.

"Yes. Perhaps the video gotten by Electric Catfish Man and Senior Centipede will teach us more about this man." Maiko Plasma suggested. "We should be on guard, however. If this man is a vengeful one, we need to make sure to watch out for him should he come after us."

"What we've learned from the House of Evolution," started Venus Mantrap, "Is that this man can be dissuaded to back down from a fight despite his immense strength. He doesn't actively go after all his enemies, it seems, to kill them. The cyborg employed by the House of Evolution and their creator, the Doctor named Genus, are still alive. This benevolence demonstrated by the man might be our key to getting to him."

"What could we do with that?" Maiko said. "If we want to attack him, demonstrating kindness won't be enough to overpower him. We need to learn how he fights in order to know how to take him…"

"Maiko! I've got the recording!" Electric Catfish Man came bursting out of the ground nearby, camera rig still attached. "Oh, Phoenix Man, Venus Mantrap, you're here too, good."

"Fantastic!" Maiko told Catfish. "Will Senior Centipede be coming in to give his account of the events as well? We want as much information as we can get."

"Well… please watch the video before we go… talk to Senior Centipede." Electric Catfish Man said, hesitant to break the news.

Soon, Maiko had the camera's recorded information in the computer, and everyone gathered around to watch. All except Electric Catfish Man.

"Hey, maybe now we'll finally be able to see how this man fights!" Venus Mantrap said. "Let's roll the video out, Maiko!"

"Yes, of course!" Maiko said excitedly, starting the video recording on the computer. Together, they excitedly watched the Senior Centipede battling with a cyborg. A guard of the man, maybe? He claimed to have a master, most likely the man they were after, considering the barren city had few living beings in it otherwise.

"Oh yes, Senior Centipede's famed Centipede Parade! That junk heap's got it coming to him, challenging one of our strongest…" Venus Mantrap started. They cut themselves off when they noticed the Centipede Parade had stopped without warning. None of them had seen what happened. They suddenly got very somber. They noticed what was standing next to their fallen comrade now; the bald head was recognizable anywhere.

"What happened?" Phoenix Man questioned. "Maiko, give us a frame-by-frame playback of the attack. We need to see what he even did."

Maiko shakily agreed, and started preparing the correct time in the video for a frame analysis. Even going by each individual frames didn't give them full information. This man seemed to move faster than they could even keep track of with their frame-by-frame software. The man, this nobody, had his fist touching the Centipede's head in one frame, and in the next frame seemed to have teleported forward, picking up the cyborg in the process from the center of the Centipede Parade. Even going just by frames, nothing they looked toward in the video told him the power of this man. He seemed to destroy Senior Centipede's life force with a tap of his fist. It was… unreal.

"…Perhaps trying to find ways to attack this man directly is incorrect, at least for now." Maiko said, clearly shaken. "We need to… need to send monsters to talk with this man. Calmly. We must go the benevolence route, clearly there is no other choice at the moment. See if we can't… can't persuade him with kindness."

Everyone in the room was scared, shaken, felt ready to run in fear from a being so many cities away. Phoenix Man and Venus Mantrap had been in this thing's vicinity not too long ago. They suddenly felt very lucky to not be dead. And yet they knew, if they didn't do something about this man, who pushed aside some of the strongest monsters they knew like they were nothing and could move as though by instant teleportation, they feared they would all die. And so after a pause, it was Phoenix Man who made the first move.

"…I'll go and talk to this man." Phoenix Man said. "We need someone to, and I feel that I will be one of the best candidates to do so. I will try and reason with him, and maybe get more information by conversation. We need to try and target the same kind of kindness that he gave the House of Evolution. It is our only form of defense left that doesn't require sending tons of monsters to their deaths."

"Then I shall go as well." Maiko Plasma said. "Should we be in danger, I can send the information we learn out back to our database of information quickly, hopefully before we are destroyed. If there is any way that we might… might die out there, we need someone who can ensure our deaths aren't in vain."

And so it was decided. Maiko and Phoenix would be going to the ghost town. Catfish and Mantrap were both greatly inspired by the act of sacrifice for the greater good. Most monsters were self-serving, self-important characters of their own story, so to see two monsters that were willing to let themselves go into such great danger for the betterment of their lives was an inspiration to the two monsters who had not seen such an act before. Before anyone knew it, Phoenix Man and Maiko Plasma were on their way.

* * *

Opening the door to his apartment, Saitama was greeted by a strange sight. A red bird person and a maiko had come to his door. He briefly wondered what kind of ritual they were here to perform. Then, one of them began to speak.

"Yes, hello. My name is Phoenix Man. We are not here to harm you, we just want to talk. We mean you no ill will, we just wanted to talk to you." Phoenix Man said nervously. Maiko Plasma just nodded along, waiting to see what the man would do.

"I'm not interested in buying any insurance policies. Are you with that insurance company again?" Saitama asked. When they shook their heads, he said, "Alright then. Come in, I guess. I don't have snacks or anything really to feed you, so don't expect food handouts here either."

Phoenix Man and Maiko Plasma walked in, not sure what to expect. What they didn't expect, anyway, was how normal, if cheap looking, the place was.

Sitting down at a table and motioning for the two monsters to do the same, Saitama asked them, "What do you want then?"

Maiko Plasma started. "We noticed a lot of monsters have been coming here and being killed."

"Huh? Yeah, a lot of monsters have been appearing." Saitama said. "It gets kind of annoying when they drone on and on while attacking everything. It's become so hard to find stores with good sales, most of them seem to have gone away somewhere. I've had to travel farther to find the good deals."

"So you've been killing monsters that have been coming here?" Phoenix Man asked.

"I guess." Saitama sighed. "These monsters keep coming in for one reason or another just to destroy stuff, so I punch them. No matter what, though, they keep coming. They don't even seem to have a motive anymore. Recently, some big worm thing came for no reason and attacked, so I had to punch him."

Maiko Plasma was shocked at such a casual mention of their dead comrade, but kept prying. "So, you don't actively go out and kill monsters? You just kill the ones that are attacking people? Like, you don't try and hunt down monsters?"

"If I hear that there is some monster causing trouble, I'll go help people." Saitama said. "It just seems like all these monsters want to do is kill people and cause trouble. They need a job or something. They're like those bald people on the news that wanted to stop working. Maybe they'd find better jobs doing something constructive, like not killing people."

* * *

Deep beneath the earth, Elder Centipede was pushing furiously ahead. How could some lowly human creature kill one of his kind, one of the line of Centipede monsters? The great and powerful line of Centipede monsters, having their history stained with death by some common human? No, this human would not live, Elder Centipede told himself. He wasn't going to take this murder lightly.


	5. Chapter 5

"Well, thank you for taking the time out of your day to talk with us." Maiko Plasma said, to which Saitama only replied with, "Yeah, sure. Just don't go around causing trouble."

Maiko Plasma and Phoenix Man were amazed. A powerful force, strong enough to take down some of the strongest beings they had gathered together, and he wasn't throwing his strength around at everything. Why did he live in the abandoned city, anyway? Did he feel that this was a safe place to attract dangerous monsters to? What was with his living condition, and why had they not heard of this guy before now?

"Aren't you a registered hero?" Phoenix Man asked. "Why are you out here? Did the Hero Association send you to work out here, to defeat violent monsters in a place void of other humans?"

"Eh? No, the rent's just cheap out here. It's quiet, too. No loud neighbors, low rent, and I've just been here so long I've felt no reason to go live somewhere else." Saitama responded.

"So you just live here of your own will?" Maiko Plasma questioned. "Don't the monsters coming here to fight bother you?"

"I guess they're annoying, but having monsters outside my door or having monsters in my monthly rent payment, I think I've chosen the lesser of two evils." Saitama said. "Not really much else to it. And besides, someone has to fight these monsters when they're being aggressive. Why not me?"

For their own sake, Maiko and Phoenix could think of why they wouldn't want their monsters coming to him first. But they still noted that he had a point, at least from his perspective. And suddenly, they felt the ground beneath them shake, as though a minor earthquake was rolling in. Saitama may have been somewhat confused, but Phoenix Man and Maiko Plasma had a terrifying guess as to what they could be feeling.

They ran outside quickly to intercept the angry centipede that was quickly coming out of the ground outside Saitama's apartment. Its size far dwarfed the building its target was in, and even could be said to rival most skyscrapers in full length. As it unfurled much of its body out of the ground, it stared at the beings in front of it that were desperately trying to catch its attention.

"Elder Centipede, please hold off for a moment!" Maiko Plasma yelled up to it. Phoenix Man quickly was flying up to the multi-layered face of the towering mysterious being.

"Please wait before you attack, Elder Centipede!" Phoenix Man said, getting closer to its face. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into!"

"What could you mean by that?" Elder Centipede said. "I am Elder Centipede, Dragon-level threat and the largest of my kin. As a member of the Centipede group of mysterious beings, I am here to avenge the death of Senior Centipede. How dare you try and stop me?"

"This isn't an ordinary human, Elder!" Phoenix Man said. "This is a man who has toppled several demon-level threats in a single strike. He is faster than we can capture recording of. Senior Centipede in particular fell to a single punch from the man. If you back down now, he's the kind of human who won't chase after you. You don't need to confront him."

"Whatever you say of the strength of this human is irrelevant, especially comparing him to monsters weaker than I." Elder Centipede stated. "This low-life human has stained our bloodline by spilling the blood of one of our lineage, the Senior Centipede. Nothing you can say will convince me to sit idly by as one of my own kin's killer lives. He is my objective."

"We need you to calm down for a moment, Elder." Phoenix Man was rushing to get his words out, worried that if he left a moment of silence in that his ally would run straight for his suicide mission. "You don't seem to understand the severity of the situation. This isn't a normal human hero with normal human strength."

"It is understandable the fear that you have for someone strong enough to defeat one of my own kin," stated Elder Centipede. "However, I am far stronger than Senior Centipede. I have seen reports flying around about the mysterious being of the Ghost Town. Everything that he is listed to have fought could not even come close to being a dragon-level threat like me. You have to trust that I know how to avenge my fellow centipede brethren. I will not allow this human to walk the planet anymore. And now, this conversation is done." With that, Elder Centipede ducked under Phoenix Man, and rushed headfirst at the apartment of his adversary.

At just about this time, Saitama was finally walking out of his apartment to see what all the shaking ground was about, only to be confronted by a charging, sky-scraping monster of a bug coming right for him.

* * *

"Even a dragon-level mysterious being could not stand a second against this man." Phoenix Man saw. The already-disheveled town was now covered in the blood, and minor remains of, Elder Centipede. It was as though nothing could be done to bring this man to even launch a second attack at any particular target. This man was almost a force of nature – an unstoppable, unmovable existence that could not be destroyed, could not be detained, only avoided. Phoenix Man and Maiko Plasma knew now that they had to make sure that this was information they had to deliver to other monsters before more came on a suicide march to deal with the ghost town's greatest power.

Maiko Plasma and Phoenix Man were now rushing to get back to their hideout to send out this information to all available to hear it. They needed to get to that computer, and somehow make sure they could reach as many monsters as possible to deliver their new threat warning. They needed to close the investigation parties that were being prepared for this area and tell them why they had to avoid the place.

By the time they had got there, news had not yet reached mass monster ears about the death of Elder Centipede. This would, without their intervention, surely just become another reported 'missing' monster in the ghost town.

"How did it go, you guys?" Venus Mantrap asked them when they got in. "It looks like you both are alive, which means this is the first time we've had a full team sent there come back alive. Did you learn anything?"

"Yes," Phoenix Man said. "This benevolence plan really is our only hope of interacting with this man without death on our end. We need to somehow show this man that we are not a threat to him."

"Sure," Electric Catfish Man said. "But how do you expect any monster outside of this group to go along with this type of plan? Nobody else has seen what we have. They won't believe anything about his power. In fact, I didn't believe it until I had to get that video recording of Senior Centipede fighting the man."

"Speaking of that," Venus Mantrap said. "I heard Elder Centipede left some time ago after you left to go after the abandoned district's mysterious being, as well. How well do you think that man can handle a dragon-level threat?"

"Well, it's not about how well might be able to handle Elder Centipede," Maiko Plasma said. "It's about how well he… DID handle Elder Centipede."


	6. Chapter 6

"We need to figure out a way to helpfully inform other monsters about our findings." Phoenix Man said. "We don't need any more of our allies dying needlessly. Even if we sent all of our strongest at him, I am worried it would simply be a waste of life. Fighting him is much less helpful to us than staying out of his way. We also need to tell the other beings in a way that will not make them rush in to test themselves. Nobody will simply believe us that a dragon-level threat could be taken out by some human."

"How do we go about getting any mysterious beings to listen to us on this?" Venus Mantrap asked. "Like you said, nobody will believe us. The only thing any groups know about him at all is as a mysterious being that has been attracting and destroying other monsters. Even mentioning that he was the better of Elder Centipede will only enrage or excite most monsters. Nobody will understand how dire this situation is."

What had started as a mission to investigate the source of the mysterious being who was destroying mysterious beings that came to it had turned into an ultimatum for them; either they find out how to get monsters to back off of this human in particular, or the excitement of the unknown will lead to the destruction of many more careless monsters who go there looking for a challenge. Monsters were not particularly well-known as level-headed creatures that would assess the risk level of a situation based on the tales of their allies dying to the same threat; most believed themselves to be the strongest monster there was. Otherwise, why would they still be alive? From their viewpoint, they were invincible beings, capable of no loss. Almost all monsters who ever had reason to learn humbleness had only done so by dying, when it was too late to save themselves.

Humans learned about humbleness as children; they grew up in a society that encouraged it, were taught how to be socially friendly and politically apt through their abilities to bring up the self-worth of other individuals. Monsters, on the other hand, had no need for humbleness; it was seen as a sign of weakness, a sign that would surely get them killed more often than being aggressive. They used intimidation to defeat many opponents, and knew a sign of weakness only led to them losing one of their greatest assets against opponents who might pose a challenge. They had existed, then, as entities devoid of caution, for the only ones who had need to be cautious in their eyes were ones who were facing their own death anyway.

"…If no monster will follow our advice, then," Maiko Plasma said, "How will we ever get them to back off of this one human in particular? If we tell them this human poses a threat, no matter how much we build him up in their eyes, that will only incentivize them to charge to their deaths for glory. Even just ending our investigation won't stop other monsters from going there to find out what this is all about; monsters still died there. We can't underplay the situation and let monsters attempt to just roam there, only to die; and we can't over-sell the danger, or they'll kill themselves going for the challenge. What could we possibly do?"

All of them could only sit and think. What could possibly drive these monsters to get out of the way of this bald terror? The monsters wouldn't listen, clearly, so talking to them wasn't an option to save them. So they would have to have some external force come and get this situation under control. The four of them sat there, deciding how they were going to attempt to save the lives of countless allies that they would need alive. The powerful nature of the situation was not lost on them; they all feared the loss of life if they failed.

An external force was needed that could interact with this in a way so as to get monsters to stay away from the man. No monster had any reason to think anything of attacking this man when they met, so perhaps making him appear as threatening as he actually was would make him appear threatening. What did monsters seem to listen to at all when determining if a threat was worth fighting, however? The only thing monsters seemed to recognize at all was a hero's rank in the association. Demon-level threats almost never went after S-Class heroes that they didn't have a physical advantage against, and Dragon-level threats seemed at least wary of attacking the hero named King for his reputation as one of the strongest men on the planet. So maybe, if they could give a reputation to this guy…

"Hey! I think I have an idea!" Electric Catfish Man said. "If they won't listen to us, maybe they'll listen a little to the Hero Association. If we can get them to give him a reputation as powerful as the hero King has, perhaps they'll think twice before attacking him? You said he was listed as a B-Class hero, right, Maiko? What if there was a situation that led to him getting a reputation as a powerful S-Class hero? Then, maybe, his power will get more widely known, and our allies will actually fear him? If King can bring fear to monsters through the Hero Association, maybe the Hero Association can do the same thing to this threat, as well?"

"That's clever and all," Venus Mantrap said, "But how do you plan to get the Hero Association to call him out on how powerful he is?"

"Simple," Electric Catfish Man said. "We just need to create a situation where he has to come save the day. We need to drag him out of his abandoned city and into a public center to get him noticed. We need to push the threat enough that he needs to be the one to save everyone."

"I will get an offense force started, then." Maiko Plasma said. "If this is our shot at this, we need powerful beings capable of at least taking fire from the Hero Association enough to get this man to come out."

* * *

"So our target is a human named Saitama?" Gouketsu asked. "What kind of human is this? A hero, a salary man, where should we find it?"

"Apparently the Hero Association in A-City has a connection to him." Gyoro Gyoro said. "Maiko Plasma said that he has strong reason to believe that taking this human hostage will be of great benefit to our cause. The reason the three of us were told to go in particular is because we have to enter the most guarded city in order to find and capture this human."

Overgrown Rover just walked alongside them, on guard for anything that might come to attack them.

"So how are we gonna find it?" Gouketsu asked. "Just call out for it until it comes to us, or what kind of place it might be hiding in?"

"Actually, calling out to it was the recommended way to bring it out." Gyoro Gyoro. "Perhaps it is a hero working for the association? I am not sure why else it would come when called. Maiko Plasma also said that, if he won't come out, just knock down some humans until it does. So, I suppose if you want to do the honor of calling out to it, we'll see if it comes running immediately. If not, it'll be time to bash some heads, if you'd like."

Preparing himself, Gouketsu roared, "SAITAMA! Come out and fight me, you worthless human!"

Now, A-City itself seemed to be paying attention to the three monsters on its edge. After a human did not approach them for a minute, the three of them started marching into the city.

"Why don't you stop where you are." A human stood in front of the three monsters. "If you try and come closer, then you're just stepping to your demise."

"Ah, Hero Atomic Samurai, S-Class Rank 4." Gyoro Gyoro said. "You are not the human Saitama, and so you are worthless to us. Gouketsu, seems like you've got something to hit."

* * *

"What are those monsters after?" Sitch asked the other committee members seated around the table. "These monsters are in our city, the doorstep of the Hero Association. They've already taken down Atomic Samurai and Drive Knight. Are they here to take down the Association itself?"

In the middle of the table, they could all see a projector showing the live video feed of the three powerful monsters fighting off Child Emperor and his backpack of gadgets, Superalloy Darkshine and his incredible physical strength, and Metal Bat with his metal bat. The battle was clearly going in the monster's favor, and reinforcements were slow to come. They had called out to all S-Class heroes to come take down a threat near the headquarters, and they were still waiting for Demon Cyborg, King, and Metal Knight to reply to calls. Then, they heard the four-eyed monster shout in the middle of battle.

"Come out, Saitama! All this violence could end if you showed up! Now come to us!"


End file.
